The Tampa Bay Lightning didn’t exactly enter the 2016 Stanley Cup playoffs on a roll.
They lost four of their last six games and went 5-5 in their final 10 games before the end of the regular season.
Since the playoffs began, however, they’ve won eight of 10 games, quickly knocking off the Detroit Red Wings (third in the Atlantic Division) in five games and the New York Islanders (the first Eastern Conference Wild Card team) in five games to advance to the Eastern Conference final for a second straight year.
And they’ve done so without Steven Stamkos and Anton Stralman in their lineup.